Days of Creation - First

Days of Creation — First, executed in gouache in 1870 and held at Harvard Art Museums, is the opening panel of Burne-Jones's cycle depicting the six days of divine creation as described in Genesis. The cycle — all six panels in the Harvard collection — presents each day's creation not through the cosmic act itself but through the figure of an angel holding a sphere within which the newly created world is reflected. This conceit, derived from medieval traditions of representing divine creative acts through angelic intermediaries, allowed Burne-Jones to keep the grandeur of the subject intimate and devotional rather than spectacular. The choice of gouache on paper, rather than oil on canvas, aligns the cycle with the illuminated manuscript tradition and the decorative craft values central to the Morris circle. The first day — the separation of light from darkness — is represented through the most abstract and primordial of the cycle's imagery.

Gouache (bodycolour) on paper, exploiting the medium's opacity and flat, jewel-like colour to recall the appearance of medieval illumination and enamelwork. The restricted format of the series panels — each similarly sized and structured — creates a visual coherence across the cycle that functions like a visual litany.